Make the Most of the “Opening Rate”
Friday, August 8th, 2008The opening rate of a campaign is a large indicator of its success. It’s of utmost importance to understand how this opening rate is measured, in order to be able to best use the information to your advantage.
Email marketing software, such as CakeMail, inserts a tiny, invisible image into the body of the HTML email. The idea is that when the email is opened by the recipient, this image is downloaded, and the email software counts the opening.
This method of measurement is not as precise as it could be, for one simple reason: not every email software automatically displays images. If this is the case, and a recipient decides to read the email without displaying images, the opening is not detected.
Here are a few helpful habits you can start using to increase the precision of your data collection:
- Be sure to create an HTML email. It’s not possible to add image into a text email;
- Use compelling graphics, great and useful photographs, or illustrations- anything to stimulate the subscribers to display images in the email;
- Add a note at the top of your email saying something like: “We recommend you display images in order to fully benefit from the offers in this email.”;
- Click on “Always display images from…” in your reader.
If our “email opening” stats are not precise, why bother using them? Mainly because this opening rate information is very important, and yet, the above-mentioned method of measurement is the only automatic one currently available. Another way you can help increase accuracy in measuring campaign success is by comparing emails sent to the same subscribers. To gage if one mailing has better performed than another, try using different subject lines to see which one works better with your target. Paired with the “clicked link” data, email forwards, referrals, visits to your website and the actual actions taken by your clients: sales, registrations, etc… these email opening stats are actually the most precise way of giving you information about how effective your communications really are.
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Ideas Worth Blogging 2008-08-04
Monday, August 4th, 200842 HTML email design resources
We are on the list. Do you know our free templates? We have more to come!
How to Code HTML Email Newsletters
An exhaustive tutorial.
Stop isolating your online marketing efforts
“Don’t weaken your brand by building silos. Boost your campaign’s ROI through integration.”
Personal Information to protect
“Many people wonder about PII (Personally Identifiable Information), and what is considered PII.”
The Top Ten Stupid Ways to Hinder Market Adoption
“Here’s a compilation of silly and stupid ways companies are hindering adoption of their products and services.” By Guy Kawasaki.
Step Away from the Data!
What a marketer should measure to be sure online activities are successful.
How many email marketers do you need to change a lightbulb?
From None to Five. What’s your favorite?
And the Cupcake Recipe for this Edition:
Beach Cupcakes: Key Lime Pie Cupcakes Decked Out For Summer
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Email is a Two-Sided Game
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008We have all received email where this absurd line appears: Please do not reply to this email, bla, bla, bla… Surely a VALID reply address, where SOMEONE would receive AND read email is as mandatory in a marketing email as it is with an “Unsubscribe” link. Seth Godin, the “Yoda of marketing”, recently reminded us in his post: “If you don’t want to get email…don’t send email”.
Here are some of his pearls of wisdom:
1. Send the email to your permission list, an announcement that’s anticipated, personal and relevant.
2. Set up a “reply to” that’s a different address.
3. In the email, at the bottom, give people a web address where they can go to give feedback, or give them an email they can write to that will be read by a real person.
4. If they hit reply, the reply to will automatically send the note to the right person.
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Tickle… or Drop Your Inactive Users
Thursday, July 17th, 2008They’re on your list. They registered a while ago, and since that time, you feel they don’t bother to read any offer you send their way. They haven’t unsubscribed, but they never click on your offers, or give you any feedback. You can’t tell if they’ve really viewed your emails, or if they’re using a browser that doesn’t display images, and are excluded from your stats. Here are several ways to try to regain contact with them:
In “12 Ways to Target Inactive E-mail Subscribers” from Target Marketing, Joe Boland summarizes some tips from a whitepaper recently published. Here are a few:
- Change format, modify frequency, time of day, subject line or even content of your newsletter.
- Tickle them with a special offer, free shipping or any incentive that could motivate them to update their profile.
- Conduct a survey to find out why they’re not interested. (This last idea may be tough to put in place with people who already show a lack of interest.)
Jeanne Jennings, from The ClickZ Network uses a 3 phase method in her article “Really Simple E-mail Segmentation: Reengaging Inactives”. Here is her first phase, which we could call the «cleaning step». It’s the most cost-effective, and sends a clear message to subscribers. She suggests the following:
“ … add language that will appear (only in e-mails sent to the inactive group!) in the preview pane of whatever standard e-mail communications you send. Here’s an example from Union Plus:
Would you like to continue receiving e-mail from Union Plus?
Yes, I would like to continue to receive e-mails from Union Plus
– linkNo, please remove me from the Union Plus e-mail list
– link
After a few mailings like this, the intro should be changed for the last mailing:
“Would you like to continue receiving e-mail from Union Plus? If we do not hear from you, we will remove your e-mail from our list.”
We’ll soon follow up with more on Jenning’s ideas (and others) to provide further help in dealing with inactives. Don’t hesitate to share your tips with us.
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Get the Most out of your Welcome Message
Thursday, July 10th, 2008CakeMail email marketing software offers you a default welcome message to greet your new subscribers. But is a default message as good as a personalized message? We think not. A personalized email message is your chance to make your first impression last with a client who has shown interest in your brand. To achieve the best added value, everyone agrees that the welcome message should be sent within minutes of subscription.
To help you get the most out of your welcome email messages, below are several useful hints from Jordan Ayan’s “Missing The Chance To Say ‘You’re Welcome’” (free subscription mandatory).
- To start, html is a standard. Your welcome email should be a well-designed html message sent out in multi-part mime so that it will display properly in text or html.
- It should thank the recipient for providing the required information. It should also reinforce the value of your emails, reminding them what to expect in terms of frequency and any other information that reinforces relevancy to the recipient.
- It should include the information recipients need to add you to their white or “favorites” list, including the “from” address for your message.
- It should reinforce the value you place on the relationship and reinforce your privacy commitment, including a link to your privacy statement.
- A little something special. The subscriber has expressed a high-level of interest, so this is the time to offer something extra as a thank-you: a coupon, a percentage off, free shipping, a bonus download of a white paper or a free webinar.
- If you use a double opt-in process, you have an opportunity to double-dip. The initial confirmation message can include a promotional message.
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Ideas worth blogging - 2008/07/08
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008Sneak Peak : new whitepaper on Subject Lines
- Shorter subject lines optimise open rates
- Longer subject lines tend to optimise click and click-to open rates.
Reduce Bounce Rates: Fight for the Second Click
Different traffic sources imply different reasons for why visitors might immediately leave your site. Design to keep deep-link followers engaged through additional pageviews. - From Usability Guru Jakob Nielsen
New Chart: Transactional Emails - a Missed Opportunity
Your customers open and read transactional emails – shipping notices, receipts, statements, etc. – far more regularly than typical communications. That’s why it is a missed opportunity for many marketers who don’t add complementary products or offers to these service messages.
100 Welcome Messages
100 welcome messages picked by a designer. With screen shots.
Five Questions to Ask During Your Mid-Year Email Review
Karen Gedney talks about a mid-year review that she will be doing for one of her email marketing clients.
The Cupcake of the Week:
Maple Syrup and Gooseberries Canadian Cupcakes 
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Changes to CakeMail’s Anti-Spam Policy
Monday, June 30th, 2008In order to comply with the industry’s best practices and to ensure the finest and most trustworthy service possible for both our clients and their customers, CakeMail announces 2 modifications to its Anti-Spam Policy. These changes have already been put into practice:
1- The recipient must have been contacted in the past 12 months: If the recipient hasn’t received anything from the emailer in the past year, a message requesting confirmation of the recipient’s opt-in to the list must be sent prior to sending them any other information or offer. This period was previously 2 years.
2- CakeMail requires notified opt-in: In the case of only a single opt-in, the recipient should receive a confirmation email following registration. This email should offer the recipient a clear link to opt-out, if he so chooses. We would also like to add that a double opt-in is, by all experts, strongly recommended in building a confident relationship with the recipients on your list.
If you have any questions following the implementation of these practices, do not hesitate to contact us.
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FTC’s CAN-SPAM new rules: are you legal?
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008On July 7, new regulations of the Federal Trade Commission, FTC’s, CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) will be effective. Here are the 4 topics concerning the work of email marketers:
(1) an e-mail recipient cannot be required to pay a fee, provide information other than his or her e-mail address and opt-out preferences, or take any steps other than sending a reply e-mail message or visiting a single Internet Web page to opt out of receiving future e-mail from a sender;
(2) the definition of “sender” was modified to make it easier to determine which of multiple parties advertising in a single e-mail message is responsible for complying with the Act’s opt-out requirements;
(3) a “sender” of commercial e-mail can include an accurately-registered post office box or private mailbox established under United States Postal Service regulations to satisfy the Act’s requirement that a commercial e-mail display a “valid physical postal address”;
(4) a definition of the term “person” was added to clarify that CAN-SPAM’s obligations are not limited to natural persons.
Here is an informative article summarizing the new policies and offering advices on how to make sure you’re complying with these new rules : How to make sure your email is legal.
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Before you press the SEND button
Monday, June 23rd, 2008Seth Godin, the marketing Guru, recently wrote an Email checklist.
With his special sense of humour, he presents a list of points to think about before you click on Send. Here are some guidelines related to permission marketing :
- 4. Did every person on the list really and truly opt in? Not like sort of, but really ask for it?
- 5. So that means that if I didn’t send it (the message) to them, they’d complain about not getting it?
- 6. See #5. If they wouldn’t complain, take them off (the list)!
- 8. Aside: the definition of permission marketing: Anticipated, personal and relevant messages delivered to people who actually want to get them. Nowhere does it say anything about you and your needs as a sender. Probably none of my business, but I’m just letting you know how I feel. (And how your prospects feel).
- 9. Is the email from a real person? If it is, will hitting reply get a note back to that person? (if not, change it please).
- 12. If it is a cold-call email, and I’m sure it’s welcome, and I’m sure it’s not spam, then I don’t apologize. If I need to apologize, then yes, it’s spam, and I’ll get the brand-hurt I deserve.
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